Tampere Finland, no town has sprouted more home grown bands with a buzz in the past year than this hot spot in southern Finland. The latest in the long list of rockers to be garnering a buzz are The Bitterlicks, a 4-piece dirty rock ‘n’ roll band. Coming off a well received tour with Day Eleven, they are currently busying themselves with preparations for a new release.
Eurobands was recently invited to get to know the band a bit better and of course we jumped at the chance to bring you the latest news and insight into what makes the Bitterlicks tick.
EB: So guys, tell us a bit about yourselves, so we can acquaint the rest of the world with you?
Jimmy: I scream, play guitar, and write for the Bitterlicks. My other passions include sunbathing and dolphins.
Raffe: I’m a Viper, I like to Rock and I love to Roll. I think my job in the band is to strum my guitar, put some flavour and entertainment to our muzag and our trips and make the other geezers see green (and they luv it).
Simon: Hi. I play the drums in The Bitterlicks. I’m the youngest “licker” in this group of mad men. I’ve been playing drums for about nine years now and have played in a couple bands before joining with these guys but I really have to say that I’m having the most fun ever playing in a band right now. We have really good players here too!
Erland: I’m the guy who could make The Pope wear Tom of Finland t-shirt.
EB: So, we have a guitarist/lyricist who screams a lot and has some sort of odd aquatic mammal fetish. Another guitarist who likes the rock and roll and performs some sort of naughty ritual that apparently makes the others all tingly. One vaguely normal drummer who is rather enjoying himself, even though he is the youngest and we suspect that the rest of the band are secretly plotting to do something amoral to him. And one bass player who seems to enjoy playing dress the pope (which is all well and good but you lose points for not saying you prefer to flog the bishop).
EB: How did you all come together to form The Bitterlicks?
Jimmy: Well I could write a novel about this it’s such a long story….but I won’t. It’ll come out for the Christmas market in 2009. Basically me and Raffe have known each other for about a decade now and we started jamming and playing together in a funk band called Soho Baldwin back in the late nineties. We were having a good time and everything but also both knew that deep down inside our hearts were yearning to kick out some rock ‘n’ roll. I’d been writing some songs that weren’t suitable for the funk band so we started to jam on those tunes with Raffe and our old singer Julius. After discussing the matter in various mind states we came to the conclusion that pretty much all of the music and especially what people were calling “rock ‘n’ roll” was complete bullshit and a waste of a good eardrum. So we decided to form a rock ‘n’ roll band. We went through a bunch of different names and lineup changes including “Ramblin Rose”, until we decided on the name The Bitterlicks. Originally we were supposed to be called The Licks but then that bitch Juliette went and stole it so we couldn’t use it anymore. We were all such bitter cunts that we had to name ourselves The Bitterlicks. I first met Simon during the tail end of a new year’s drinking binge….he had a bottle of booze and I was thirsty. Liked him from the start. We jammed a few times and alas he became our drummer. Just wouldn’t feel right without him. Erland is the newest member of our jolly group. I first met him way back when I was cooking food for the Finnish Armed Forces. I made some good soup with him and thought he was a pretty mellow guy so I wanted to see if he was bassist material (although he maintains that he’s a guitarist) – he’s into Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. He clicked with our group from the get-go and had the same kind of twisted humour as the rest of us so there we were! The finished product. Great little story huh?
Raffe: Me, Jimmy and Julius gave birth to the Bitterlicks in the beginning of the Millenium. Til March 2008, there have been some divorces, runaways, one night stands and few crushes. Feels like one big family again!
Simon: I personally met Jimmy and Raffe “properly” after New Years Eve. On the first of January in 2006 to be exact. I woke up on that morning from a mutual friends place when Jimmy and Raffe and some other random (incl. manager Ossi) dudes crashed the place shouting and doing various nonsense activities (playing an acoustic guitar with only underwear on). And I was the best friend of everyone because I had Jaloviina. Love at first sight? Erland I met a bit later. That’s a totally different love/groove/gay vibe/music thing.
Erland: I got a brilliant offer from Jimmy: You wanna play bass?
EB: Jimmy, shit meaning what? Things you were hearing locally or on an international scale? Because pretty much anything coming out of Finland lately has got the ears of the North and South American fans. We are bombarded with such packaged ready-for-market pop, that we are choking for anyone new to listen too.
Jimmy: Yeah I was talking about local bands and Finnish bands… and this was when all of these HIM clones were only starting to emerge. Now it’s just ridiculous. Get me out of here. By shit I meant no attitude, no originality, shitty english, shitty sounds, etc. Just bands that pissed me off….I’m such a hater. Of course there were and are exceptions to the fact, like our long time running mates Lemmenpyssyt.
EB: Raffe, how was that, adjusting to becoming a four piece? Are you looking for another singer or happy as you are now?
Raffe: We aren’t looking for another singer. I think Jimmy fills the boots of a front man just great! And like I said before, sometimes marriages (and being in a band like ours) do end up in divorces. At the time it happens, it feels like the end of the world, but you get over it if you stay true to yourself.
